Legendary Romanian gymnasts in last-chance saloon for Rio 2016 Olympic qualification
After surprise failure at last year’s world championships, women’s artistic team must finish in top four at next month’s test event
Catalina Ponor’s experience could be crucial in rescuing the Romanians in Rio (Getty Images/Michael Reagan)
Since Nadia Comaneci scored the first ever perfect 10 in artistic gymnasts, at the Montreal 1976 Games, the world has become accustomed to seeing Romanians on the Olympic podium. The Eastern European nation has won medals in the sport at all nine editions of the Games since, amassing a grand total of 62 – including 24 golds – in 15 Games.
However, recently something has gone wrong. At the 2015 world championships in Glasgow, a series of errors on the uneven bars, an old speciality of the nation’s gymnasts, saw Romania fail to finish in the top eight of the women’s team competition. As the USA led eight nations in qualifying, the unthinkable happened to Romania: by finishing 13th, one of the sport’s great superpowers had failed to earn a place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Luckily for them, and fans of the sport, the Romanians have one last chance. At the Final Olympic Gymnastics Qualifier, which will double up as the Rio 2016 test event on 16-22 April at Rio Olympic Arena, four places in the women’s team competition will be up for grabs.
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Three Romanian gymnasts fell on the uneven bars at the 2015 world championships in Glasgow (Photo: Getty Images/Alex Livesey)
A key figure in the Romanians’ bid to regain their place at the top table will be veteran performer Catalina Ponor. The 28-year-old who has won five Olympic medals, including three golds at Athens 2004, said in a recent interview with the Romanian media that she will act as a mentor to her younger team-mates. “I work for this: I want to help the girls qualify for the Olympics,” she said.
Aside from the technical challenges, the Romanians will have to deal with the emotional pressure of potentially becoming the first Romanian women’s artistic gymnastics team not to qualify for the Games.
“I cannot think of one problem that could affect us, except for the type of panic that hit us days before the worlds”
Nadia Comaneci
After the disappointment of Glasgow, Comaneci posted a message of support – including a symbolic upside-down photo – for her compatriots on Facebook, saying: “Even superheros fall some times.”
Am pus poza invers pentru a face o schimbareEchipa de gimnastica fete a Romaniei nu s-a calificat in finala la...
Publicado por Nadia Comaneci em Sábado, 24 de outubro de 2015
Translation: “I posted this image upside-down to request a change. The women's team didn't make the world championships final, but we have to cope with that and continue. Even superheroes fall sometimes. Let's end this mentality and show our support #wearewithyou”
Eight nations – Romania, Brazil, France, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Republic of Korea and Switzerland – will compete for the final four places in the women’s team competition at Rio 2016. Along with Ponor, the Romania team will feature Laura Jurca, Silvia Zarzu, Anamaria Ocolisan, Diana Laura Bulimar, Dora Vulcan and Anda Butuc. “We need to stick together and continue doing our work,” said Jurca. “We have to go there and perform without errors. We cannot fail.”
“I see Romania in the top four. If we have self-control, there is no risk”
Catalina Ponor
With more than 100 Olympic places up for grabs across the three gymnastics disciplines – artistic, rhythmic and trampoline – the final qualifier will see 331 gymnasts from 62 countries in action at the 13,000-seat Olympic venue.
The Romanian women’s artistic gymnastics team will be in action on Sunday 17 April, from 9.30am. The men’s team event will be on 16 April and the men’s and women’s apparatus finals will take place on the 18 April. The final places for the individual competitions will also be decided, with at least 18 men and 24 women set to earn slots: the best-performing gymnasts from countries whose teams have not qualified will guarantee their berths.
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Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.
